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Twilight Zone: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" is the twenty-second episode of the first season of the American sci-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone. This episode was directed by Ron Winston and written by series creator Rod Serling. It first aired on CBS on Friday, March 4th, 1960. This episode examines Cold War paranoia as it pertains to a small, suburban community when the residents of Maple Street become convinced that some powerful alien menace has infiltrated their lives. Synopsis Maple Street is an idyllic, picturesque suburban community located in the American heartland. Late one Saturday afternoon, near the end of summer, the residents of Maple Street notice a strange flash of light in the sky, accompanied by a thundering noise. Many of the witnesses dismiss it as simply a passing meteor, but they grow concerned when they begin to notice that the event has sparked a city-wide blackout. All electrical devices, including cars, cease to function. Everyone is bemused by the phenomenon, but are otherwise calm. One man, Steve Brand, volunteers to go downtown to get it straightened out. He is surprised to find that his car won't start. A boy named Tommy warns everyone that "They don't want us to leave". He believes that UFOs are responsible for the power failure in a bid to keep everyone in town isolated. He suspects that aliens have sent scouts down to the planet disguised as a normal human family. Naturally, nobody believes Tommy's story, but the very thought of some kind of alien subversion makes everyone nervous. A man named Les Goodman finds that his car suddenly springs to life, while all the other vehicles in the neighborhood remain inert. He cannot explain why. The others note the fact that Les was one of the few people on Maple Street who didn't immediately come outside following the power outage. They begin to suspect that he might be "different", and begin asking some very pointed questions. Les doesn't appreciate the implication and feels that it is ridiculous that everyone should cast a doubtful eye upon him simply because his car starts while everyone else's remains inoperable. One woman points out other aspects of Les' seemingly strange behavior, like the fact that she has seen him outside in his front yard in the middle of the night staring up at the sky. The rest of the crowd looks at Les warily and he grows agitated and defensive. As the sun goes down, everyone continues to mill about outside. They light candles and lanterns so they can see in the darkness. Steve tries to approach Les Goodman's doorstep, but Les warns him to keep away or there will be trouble. The other townsfolk begin casting suspicions on one another. One particularly irate man, Charlie, even takes note of Steve Brand's seemingly odd behavior at times. It comes out that Steve has been working on a Ham radio set in his basement late at night, and this idiosyncrasy makes the others nervous. Now that suspicion has turned on him, Steve sarcastically tells everyone that he uses his radio to communicate with three-headed monsters from outer space. They take note of a shadowy figure approaching them from a distance. Tommy points out that it's a monster, which makes everyone else increasingly nervous. Charlie, who is highly inebriated by this point, decides that he is not willing to take any chances and fires a shotgun at the figure. The man falls, but as they approach, they discover that it is one of their own. Pete van Horn had walked to a nearby town to see if they were suffering from the power outage as well and was on his way back to Maple Street. Charlie is overwrought with guilt. Suddenly, all of the lights in Charlie's house turn on. The rest of the homes on Maple Street however remain dark. With the death of Pete van Horn and this abrupt change in Charlie's demeanor, everyone begins to turn against him. Some even suspect that Charlie may have shot Pete intentionally because he might have learned the truth about what was going on. Charlie grows scared and announces that he knows who the real space monster in the community is - Tommy, the young boy who first brought up the notion of alien subversives. Scared, Tommy turns and runs. Some of the townsfolk now convinced that Charlie might be right chase after him. Without warning, power surges begin flashing throughout the 300 block of Maple Street. This only fuels the ever-growing frustration of the residents and they quickly descend into a mob mentality. Everyone is now a suspect. People take up firearms and anything they can throw and begin turning on one another. The street erupts into wanton mass hysteria. From the hilltops high above the town, two extraterrestrial observers analyze the situation. They are responsible for the blackout and take note of the fact that it takes very little effort to turn man against his own. It is the same in every town. The two humanoids get back into their spacecraft to find the next "Maple Street" so they can do it all again. Cast Principal cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * Production code number: 173-3620 * Director Ron Winston is credited as Ronald Winston in this episode. * Actress Leah Waggner is credited as Lea Waggner in this episode. * Actor Bill Walsh is credited as William Walsh in this episode. * Actor Robert McCord is uncredited for his participation in this episode. * This episode was remade for the 2002 iteration of The Twilight Zone under the title "The Monsters are on Maple Street". The episode was directed by Debbie Allen with a teleplay written by Erin Maher and Kay Reindl. See also External Links * * * * "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" at Wikipedia * * * * ---- Category:1960/Episodes Category:March, 1960/Episodes Category:Episodes with plot summaries